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DALLAS—the opening of the new George W. Bush Presidential Center was marred when a glitch caused the sprinklers to activate, flooding the building. The library’s management continued to act as if nothing had changed, only evacuating once two-thirds of the building was under water, and staff members had been trapped on the roof for days without food or shelter.

Library spokesman John Kruger explained that they had not been notified of the flooding until several days after it had started, despite high-profile coverage on local media. Kruger did note that after learning of the flood, Executive Director Chris Tennenbaum, flying a small plane to Houston, did “circle over the library once or twice to check it out.”

George W. Bush, on hand for the ceremony’s opening, told Tennenbaum that he was doing a “heckuva job” and rebuffed any criticism.

The flood was just one of several opening-day problems for the new library. In a separate incident, several school tours got mixed up, as a result of which virtually every child was left behind.